Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Blogger Is Getting Annoying

Boy, this is probably the longest break between posts I've had in a while. We've been busy with a number of different things that could be cited as excuses for not posting, but, in all honesty, it's really just a simple blend of laziness and distraction.


Mandy's parents are nearing the finish of their world wind tour of the United States as seen from the vantage point of two chrome horses. They bought a simple (and surprisingly effective) mini-DV camera from eBay and have used it to create a video diary of their trip. I plan to boil a pot of editing juices and render those tapes down to one, 30-40 minute biking adventure that can be enjoyed by all. As one of the last stops on their trip, they have been camping out at our apartment in Hamilton! for the past few days. Their visit has been most welcome. We've spent many hours catching up and swapping fun travel stories, checking out the city, and trying new foods. Originally, I was going to cite their trip as the cause for not posting, but it's not really true. I have had a lot of free time these past few post-free days, I've just thought it better to spend it hanging out and chiz-illin' with the in-laws than writing.


Not a single person replied to an important, previously stated question, so I'll ask it again in the hopes that at least one of you responds: Is it more desirable to post shorter, more frequent posts or longer, less frequent posts? Do you want daily updates with less content or maybe twice-weekly updates with more content? Let me know.


I'm planning a face-lift for the blog and possibly mirroring it on MySpace, to see if people dig the change. I hope to incorporate more media-rich content (audio, video, and spinning "under construction" signs) to make the blog more fun. Among several other problems, I can't seem to get the "Phone Audio" updater and the RSS-Feeds to work on Blogger. These issues, along with the integrated content management system at MySpace are two of the main reasons for the mirror. There's a new "improved" Blogger service that is currently in beta, but I can't get DropMyStraw to transfer over, so I don't know whether the changes will be good or not.


MySpace provides much more flexibility in the direction of media-rich content, and, from what I understand, it's much more reliable than Blogger, so who knows. Since we started the travel-blog project, we've gotten a ton of really positive feedback from friends and family. It's encouraging, and we thank you all for it.


My goal over the next few weeks is to get my business site installed and customized. I'm also going to start putting together a gee-whiz wow-bang demo reel to show potential client and ad agencies in the hopes that I can land a job that will pay me to do something I enjoy (what a novel concept). To do these few things, I plan to rebuild the RAID array on my computer (or, rather, pay Kleiner-One-Niner with beer to do it for me) and possibly upgrade some of the components with a little of the money I made doing video work for clients back in GR. In this way, hopefully, I can keep moving towards my long-term video goals and write the money spent to upgrade off as a business expense in the process (gotta love being incorporated).


That's it for now. I'm still planning to post the terrible and wonderful music video montage as well as some pics of the apartment. Stay tuned, great things are in the works!


(What is it with me and midgets?)

7 comments:

josh said...

Shorter and more frequent. I subscribe to something like a hundred RSS feeds, most of which are updated at least once a week, and a few that are updated several times a day. If a post is more than a couple paragraphs long, it better have a damn compelling intro or title to get me to read the whole thing.

For the love of all that doesn't suck, do NOT move to MySpace. MySpace is a TERRIBLE site. The design completely ignores the last ten years of web progress. The layout is presentationally-driven and so unsemantic as to be absurd. The DOM bears as much resemblance to a modern website as Frankenstein's monster forced through a meat grinder does to Keira Nightly.

"Media-rich content" perhaps, but it comes at the expense of accessibility, portability, and dignity.

What problems have you been having with your Blogger RSS feed? I've noticed no issues with it, and that's how I read your blog.

If you decide to change hosts, that's cool. But MySpace is for horny teenagers who like to click on blinky things. Avoid it.

Matt said...

Thanks for the post. The three main problems, in no particular order:

1. I can't log in. Blogger is trying a new service and they're integrating all of the Google apps with Microsoft "Passport" type solution. So, since my login for this site has the same name as my gmail account, I can't log in here without it saying, "You're logged into Gmail, want to start a new account?" The only way I can get in is by posting a comment.

2. The RSS feed is broken for me and every browser I use. It says, "Unable to Load Feed" I've tried different browsers and RSS feed apps, nothing seems to work. Except, you mention that it does. We'll have to IM about it.

3. There are many other features like "Audioblogger" and "Email Blogging" that I actually would use while traveling or trying to post from work, and none of them work. The services look like they should, but when I run them, they fail in one capacity or another.

I was really cringing about the MySpace thing, but I want a more reliable service than this. Maybe if I reregistered with Blogger and used a different login, some of the problems would go away. I'll try that before peddling my wares to the horny teenagers at MySpace.

Anonymous said...

i like to click on blinky things...what is wrong with blinky things?! :-)


I like frequent little notes vs. one long note once in a while. I really look forward reading them... honestly.

sending love to ya!

josh said...

If you want phone blogging and e-mail blogging, just go with LiveJournal. I know it's kinda got that emo kid stigma, but at least it's a fairly rich community with a really good, open source, standards-compliant backend.

Yes Virginia, there really is an internet snob.

Anonymous said...

If you really want an exciting blog, then use Notepad for editing HTML, Paint for creating graphics, and link pictures from their original source.

Yes Ohio, there really is an Internet slob.

Matt said...

AdamK, you make a good point. Sadly, this guy beat me to it:

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/vanderlinden/glitter.htm

Mandy said...

MySpace sucks big time!!! We will have to research other sites.